Comments on Secrets of Baby Behavior: Baby Behavior Basics Part 2 - The Many Moods of Ba...

To Amber - While we understand that you don't ...

2011-08-25T17:19:46.760-07:00

To Amber - While we understand that you don't want to overwhelm your baby, babies are born ready to see faces, hear sounds, and to handle smells and touch. Your baby will tell you when she has had too much by using her cues. As long as you respond to her cues, she'll be fine. It is important that you introduce her to her new world, especially if you let her set the pace. I'm not sure what you mean by letting her cry while soothing. I think you mean that you are comforting her when she gets fussy. That is tiring, but important for her to know that you are there to help her when she gets upset. As she gets older, she'll be able to handle more stimulation and even calm herself sometimes.

Given that you've already seen the doctor and ...

2011-08-25T17:03:57.224-07:00

Given that you've already seen the doctor and everything is looking good (we would tell anyone in your situation to first see the doctor), you may have a baby referred to these days as a "persistent crier." We have some posts that focus on crying and we summarized them fairly recently -for help, see: http://www.secretsofbabybehavior.com/2010/11/back-to-basics-part-4-crying-your-babys.html

We know how tough it is to deal with a crying baby but we also know that nearly all babies grow out of this relatively quickly. Be sure to ask family and friends for help!

Hello. My 6 week old never appears to be in the qu...

2011-08-17T18:15:14.050-07:00

Hello. My 6 week old never appears to be in the quiet alert state very often. If she is awake she is almost always fussy or eating. I would say that her quiet alert state would be maybe 30 minutes out of a 24 hour time span. We have taken her to he doctors and there are no signs of any health problems. We have had some issues with getting her feedings under control. She is now eating well, sleeping well, and having a bowl movement at least once or twice a day. But, she is still really fussy when she is awake. She is able to be consoled by swaddling, her swing, and by being held but then she falls asleep. We never get a chance to hang out with an alert baby. Is this common?

I know this post isn't specific to crying but ...

2011-08-15T04:52:44.743-07:00

I know this post isn't specific to crying but that seems to be the topic of the comment section. I have a new 5 week old. I have been able and decided before she was born that I wanted to have a slow, relaxed and mellow entry into the world. She was born at home and for the first two week we had low lighting and time in bed with quiet family visits. I am thankful for this time. Now that she is 5 weeks I feel like there is more pressure to be more social when I have heard that after 6 weeks babies change a lot and They become more social... is this true? Am I doing a great service to my baby? My husband and I went to my parents the other night. It's a 30 min drive (thankfully she slept). Once there she was Quiet Alert and then after a little while and being held by other she started crying. I suppose because she is overstimulated. Do you think it is too early to expose her to so many new smells, voices, sounds, sights and feelings? I feel like in a couple more weeks we both will feel a little more "ready". I think I sound over worried and yet I feel very sensitive about our slow entry. My Dad said babies benefit from stress and fear.
One of the books I have read is called "Aware Baby" and in this book they talk about holding your baby while they cry and letting them cry out all their stress. We have been practicing this. It does seem to do so well for her. She will cry and then be so peaceful, sometime alert or finally sleep really well. I like this and it can be very draining and stressful as we are letting her cry with minimal distraction just nice amounts of soothing. So I feel very motivated to limit overstimulation. And yet my goal is to have her enter into our life soon, just not too soon. We people are in such a hurry!
Would love some perspective. What do you think of all this?
Thank you, Amber

Hi Jon - any time a baby changes their behavior dr...

2011-08-05T13:54:01.855-07:00

Hi Jon - any time a baby changes their behavior dramatically, it is always a good idea to check with with your pediatrician. Your baby may have an ear infection or something else that bothering him that isn't obvious. If the doctor says that all is well, you should check out our posts on persistent crying. http://www.secretsofbabybehavior.com/2009/07/tips-for-coping-with-persistent-infant_16.html and
http://www.secretsofbabybehavior.com/2009/07/whats-difference-between-crying-and.html

If those posts don't help, let us know!

Our baby is 11 weeks old. For the first 10 weeks, ...

2011-08-05T13:36:42.083-07:00

Our baby is 11 weeks old. For the first 10 weeks, he cried and everything, but not like he has for the last few days. He seems healthy, well fed, and sleeps four to five hours at a time. But he also goes through long spells of intense crying where he is nearly inconsolable.

Last weekend, my wife's brother came to visit along with two young, extremely active children. The house was full of constant screaming all weekend long. Would something like this account for my son's irritability this whole week?

Hi Pete - so sorry it took a few days to respond. ...

2010-11-16T19:20:39.998-08:00

Hi Pete - so sorry it took a few days to respond. Things can change so fast with babies, I'm hoping that your baby's crying binges are over. If not, be sure to check with your doctor if you have any concerns about your baby's weight gain or health. I'm assuming your baby is growing well and thriving. A common reason for such regular crying spells is baby's sensitivity to changes in stimulation that happens before the crying starts. In the evenings, babies have to deal with a lot of changes, people come home from work, TV gets turned on, dinner is made, everyone wants to play with the baby, lights are changing, dogs are barking, etc. All that stimulation can be tough for a newborn to deal with. Try to reduce dinner time stimulation and see if it helps. Another common reason would be that the baby is overtired and still struggling with moving from excited states to sleep. Creating a daily nap routine may help if that is the problem. Things should get better very soon! Keep us posted!

at 8pm every evening, my 1 month old starts crying...

2010-11-12T22:07:59.003-08:00

at 8pm every evening, my 1 month old starts crying hysterically till about midnight. its like clockwork! so what could be the problem??